


ii. wisp

by ＫＥＩ (keiyoko)



Series: fictober 2020 [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Implied/Referenced Suicide, Other, Past Lives, Past Relationship(s), Second Chances, Unrequited Love, War, shattered (working title)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26891368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keiyoko/pseuds/%EF%BC%AB%EF%BC%A5%EF%BC%A9
Summary: “So, what are you borrowing me for?” I ask, wondering what it is that they have planned.  Demicos’s curiosity piques with mine, his thoughts swirling around all sorts of absurd possibilities.  Most of them I dismiss without a second thought, but a few of the more eccentric ones make me laugh.What I’m certainly not expecting to hear Kami say is, “I want to climb Mount Parnassus with you.”
Relationships: Kami Chen | Suyin Yul-Fa/Jaydin Rey | Storm of Elerclae
Series: fictober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952758
Kudos: 1





	ii. wisp

**Author's Note:**

> a short story based off the events of a book i plan to write!

My trident rings out in the empty arena as it meets Nikandros’s blade. He’s gotten better since I fought him a hundred years ago, but I’m still the more skilled one between us. Despite that Nik manages to keep me on my toes. It’s been a while since I’ve fought anyone who could give me a real challenge, so the change of pace is refreshing.

We break after a few minutes, my kyroi accepting his defeat. He heads over to the edge of the fighting circle to get some water, while I straighten out my bracers and adjust my circlet. As I go to wipe the sweat from my brow, I see Nikandros step back and place his fist over his heart. Automatically I assume it’s Melliora he’s saluting, but when I look up I see the last person I’d expect.

Kami stands at the entrance to Warrior’s Circle, dark purple hair pulled back into a braided crown. They appear to be empty-handed and dressed in plainclothes, so I don’t think that they’ve come to spar.

“Your Highness,” Nikandros murmurs as he bows his head. He and most of the other kyroy have mistaken them for Suyin, and I don’t know how to tell him that Kami and I _aren’t_ married or engaged. I don’t have the heart to do it either, after seeing how high their morale became once they thought Syren’s lost princess had returned. And strangely enough, Kami doesn’t seem to mind being mistaken as the High Princess.

They only wave their hand in his direction. “I just want to borrow your prince for the day, Nik.” 

_“I don’t trust the Starless One,”_ Demicos hums in my ear. _“What reason does she have to spend time with you?”_

“ _Borrow_ me?” I ask incredulously, ignoring my fayth. “For what?”

“Get changed and I’ll let you know.”

With that, they walk away. Evidently Nikandros thinks that means I will too, because he goes to sheathe his sword and throws me a fresh towel. It’s a good time to stop anyways; we’ve been fighting since dawn and judging by the sun’s position, it’s been a good few hours since then. I wave him off to go do...whatever it is that the kyroi are in charge of now, and head to my rooms to get changed.

I should clean my armor to keep it in good condition, but I merely hang it up and remove my circlet. There’s no use in taking it with me, especially when the Isira can recognize me on sight without the double crown of Elerclae. 

Kami is already there when I emerge from my chambers, leisurely leaning against a pillar while they wait with a pack at their feet. The bag puzzles me—both of us possess the ability to store things in a separate plane of existence. There’s zero reason for them to have a bag unless they arbitrarily felt like bringing one. 

“So, what are you borrowing me for?” I ask, wondering what it is that they have planned. Demicos’s curiosity piques with mine, his thoughts swirling around all sorts of absurd possibilities. Most of them I dismiss without a second thought, but a few of the more eccentric ones make me laugh.

What I’m certainly not expecting to hear Kami say is, “I want to climb Mount Parnassus with you.”

I’m probably the last person in the galaxy that Kami would want to take on a hike. We’re much closer than when we met in the Desert City, but not quite close enough to spend an entire day together, climbing a hallowed mountain. Despite that, I don’t refuse. This is most likely my last chance to spend time alone with Kami, and I’ll be damned if I turned that down.

“Let’s go then, it takes about eight hours to reach the summit and we’re losing daylight.” I say, scooping up their pack before they can object. It disappears from my grasp and reappears in Kami’s hand, so you can’t say I didn’t try.

“Who said we were climbing the whole way?” They shoot back with a wicked grin. 

* * *

We spend a large portion of the day on a skiff, sailing towards Mount Parnassus. I’m still unsure why Kami wishes to climb it; the only people who do are High Princes upon their ascension, kyroi before their approval by the Council, and seasoned mountain climbers with a bucket list. Kami fits into exactly zero of those categories, so their motive evades me. 

Our skiff arrives at the foot of the mountains a few hours before noon. We take three hours to climb to the halfway point where we break for lunch, sharing cold tea and sandwiches Calista prepared that morning. After that, it only takes two hours to reach the summit.

It’s the fastest record to reach the tallest peak of Parnassus, but Kami conjured small portals to bypass entire sections of the trail; areas that were blocked off by last season’s rockslides, places inhabited by dangerous creatures we didn’t feel like fighting, or paths Kami judged to be a waste of time. There were definitely a few moments where we portaled out of sheer laziness, but that was only a small handful of times.

Demicos hasn’t said a word since we left the city, most likely annoyed that I’m spending the day with Kami. He thinks that my time is wasted with them, and still doesn’t trust them. I don’t particularly care. My fayth can be as temperamental as he wants, but I find the silence a welcome change. It seems that Eros is of a similar mind as well, because Kami is clear-eyed the entire way up the mountain. 

Once we’re at the top, I lead Kami over to a cliff overlooking the Athanas Acropolis, where we can see the Forgemaster’s Keep and even Warrior’s Circle. If I focus my vision, I can even make out the faint outline of the Gloomspire. We’re so far up that everything looks so small—from here the sprawling city-state seems infinitesimal, even though Athanas is the largest Isira stronghold in the galaxy.

Both of us are silent as we take in the view, our breathing the only noise aside from the background ambiance. It’s peaceful, even as the city below us prepares for war.

If I look out of the corner of my eye, I can see Kami’s profile. They’re gazing into the distance, probably thinking at a thousand thoughts a second. I can’t help but think that they’re absolutely radiant, illuminated by the silver moonlight. My brothers always waxed poetic about how handsome the other is at sunset and sunrise, but I find that Alcmene’s soft light brings out a more delicate beauty in everyone. 

Something else that I realize the longer I look at Kami, the more they look like Suyin. I knew that the resemblance was there, but the moonlight makes the dark purple of their eyes glow silver, and I can see an uncanny likeness between the two. Not for the first time, I catch myself forgetting and reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind their ear when a gentle breeze blows it out of their braided crown.

Quiet moments like these (though they are few) are when I can’t help but forget Kami isn’t Suyin. They may be similar in appearance, but they’re like water and fire in personality. But recently it’s become easier and easier to blur the line between the two, since Kami has become... _softer,_ for lack of a better word, in the passing days.

Kami Chen was all sharp edges and biting words when we met in the Desert City. They weren’t afraid of anything except maybe the Dawnguard, and they were willing to tear a hole in the Heavens to fight the godstars. And the minute we locked eyes in that lounge, I knew that our fates were deeply intertwined. I didn’t know that I’d fall in love with them, but through my connection to Demicos I could feel the intent of the godstars binding us together.

What we have now is nothing like the relationship I shared with Suyin. Their personalities aren’t even that similar, but for all their differences the two of them are very much the same.

A hundred and seventy years have passed since the last time I saw my princess, but I still remember the shape of her smile and the way she held her sword. Kami fights with the same deadly grace as Suyin did and the way their lips curve when they smile is identical. _“You’re not so bad, Rey,”_ was said with the same softness as Suyin that night in the temple, and when the wind blows wisps of their hair across their face all I can think of is how the princess looked on the battlefield during the First Seraph War. 

But while their faces are similar, everything else is alien. I know all the birthmarks and lines of Suyin’s body, even the jagged scar upon her otherwise smooth shoulder. Valerian’s knight was the one who put it there, slashing downwards at her unprotected back. Kami has a delicate web of scars crossing the skin of her back, but nothing like Suyin’s patch of damaged skin.

Kami catches me looking at them and gives me a funny look. “What?”

“Nothing,” I lie. They don’t need to know what I’m thinking about. “I’m just worried.”

“And what do you have to worry about, O High Prince?” 

Oh, if only they knew. “Certain purple-haired fayth that decide to drag me up a mountain on a whim, you know, things like that.”

They snort and playfully shove my shoulder. It’s nice to share a moment like this with them. We’ve been on edge these past few weeks, racing against the clock and trying to prepare for what might be our final battle. 

Suddenly, Kami turns to face me with a rather serious expression. “Do you know why I wanted _you_ to come with me?”

“No,” I shrug. Their mind works in mysterious ways, and I don’t know the first thing about what goes on in there. I won’t delude myself into thinking I can accurately guess, either.

They laugh, a cold noise that reverberates down to my bones, and turn back to face Athanas. “It’s because I didn’t want to spend my last day alone.”

_Last day? What do you mean?_

Their silence is deafening, the weight of their dark gaze heavier than any burden. I think I have an idea of what they mean, but I’m afraid that they’ll say it. 

“Kami, please tell me you’re not going to do anything stupid.” I beg. If they die, I’ll never forgive myself. I lost the person I loved once, and I won’t let it happen again. “We need you— _I_ need you.”

“Don’t worry.” They say with a melancholy bitterness. “I won’t die. Not in a way that matters, anyways.” 

Kami says it like a promise, and I get a bad feeling in my gut. There’s so many things I could say, but the words catch in my throat. They’re resigned to whatever choice they’ve made, and I know that there’s no way I can change their mind about it. 

I can’t help but feel like I’ve wasted this second chance. I never thought I’d fall in love again after Suyin, but here I am, head over ass in love with someone who could pass as her double. Demicos calls me a fool for that, but he thinks I’m a stupid for plenty of other reasons. 

“There’s something I need to tell you—” I start to say, only to have Kami cut me off.

“Save it for later, Rey.”

“You know that’s not really my name,” I point out.

They shrug. The conversation drops, and I’m too anxious to bring it up again. Intimacy and emotions other than vengeance and fury have always been terrifying to them. 

Instead we sit on that cliff for what must be hours, watching as the stars pass through the passage of the night sky and as the Acropolis dims, then re-lights all the lanterns in the city. We don’t speak, and even if I wanted to, my voice has abandoned me. The idea of having to survive the death of another loved one, on top of my brothers and Suyin, is distressing and I’d rather enjoy what time I have left with Kami.

I can hear the low thrum as Isira bang the war drums in the city below us as the night sky begins to brighten. Our time together has come to an end, and I can’t feel like the approaching dawn is signaling more than just the start of another day. It feels like a new beginning, and it makes me think that I won’t ever see Kami again in this life. All I can do is hope and pray that they’ll return safely but going by what they said earlier, the chance that they’ll return is very slim. 

As the barest hints of sun begin to peak over the horizon, I realize that I’m not so afraid anymore. The light of dawn fills me with a sense of determination and reminds me that I am High Prince Storm of Elerclae, and that I should not be scared. 

I will kill Valerian of the Nephilim and bring peace to this universe, and do everything in my power to protect Kami in the way I should’ve done for Suyin. I will not let them die on the battlefield, and I _will_ see them again even if it means sacrificing everything. 

**Author's Note:**

> i have a [tumblr](https://sacrasm.tumblr.com/) and [twitter!](https://twitter.com/keiyoko_) where i sometimes yell about things


End file.
